Plastic bag carrier

ABSTRACT

A compact device for carrying a plurality of shopping bags, the bags of the type having a pair of loop handles, including a rigid, straight pin member terminated by spaced-apart first and second ends, a rigid, straight tube member of terminal length located about the pin member and having a first aperture formed therein substantially midway therealong, an outer sleeve of pliable material covering the tube member and having a second aperture formed therein, aligned with the first aperture, wherein the straight pin member, the straight tube member and the outer layer of pliable material form a handle to be carried in one&#39;s hand, a rigid, planar, elongated loop including a first loop section and a second loop section, the loop sections held in spaced-apart arrangement by a pair of straight loop segments, wherein the first loop section is fastened about the straight pin member, through the first and second apertures, and the loop section depends slightly below the outer layer of pliable material, a portion of one of the straight loop segments adapted to pivot inside the elongated loop to provide a space through which the handles of shopping bags may be threaded or passed to thereafter reside inside the second loop section when the handle is carried in one&#39;s hand with the shopping bags hanging therebelow from the second loop section and bias means associated with the pivotable portion of the elongated loop urging the pivotable straight loop segment back into alignment in the rigid elongated loop to insure the handles of the shopping bags remain inside the second loop section while the bags are being carried by the device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention pertains to the field of hand implements. More particularly, the invention pertains to a hand-held device for use in carrying a plurality of filled bags, such as a plurality of plastic shopping bags filled with purchases.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] In the modernization of our culture, more and more items are being made by specific industries and fewer items are made at home. Instead of husband and wife purchasing a 50 lb. bag of flour to make a variety of breads, cakes and cookies, specialized breads, cakes and cookies are now available for purchase at markets and brought home. All kinds of food stuffs are likewise specially made for purchase to and take home to enjoy. There are also a wide variety of cleaning supplies, including rags, mops and brooms that may each be purchased for a specific application. All of this means that more things than ever before are purchased and brought home and are generally in bags, rarely in boxes.

[0005] The cloth bag has given way to the paper bag that has, in turn, given way to the plastic bag. Plastic bags come in a wide variety of sizes and almost all of them are characterized by having at least one, but usually a pair of, loop handles at the top of the bag that is carried in the palm of the purchaser's hand. These plastic bags are of very thin construction and are unusually strong. This light-weight, high strength feature has been capitalized on by sellers by putting large amounts, often heavy, of groceries or other items in one bag so that the purchaser must struggle on his or her own to carry the bag to the car or truck for the trip home, and from the vehicle into the house or living quarters. In order to take advantage of the other spouse, one will purchase a large quantity of goods, stored in separate bags and allowing the other person, usually the husband, to carry the numerous bags in his two hands. Because of the heavy weight of merchandise in the bags, the carrier of the bags often gets deep creases in his or her hands that may cause pain and discomfort lasting well beyond the trip to the market.

[0006] The prior art has been aware of this problem and has attempted to meet the challenge by issuing patents on a wide variety of bag carriers. For instance, Des. 386,682 shows a rectangular device having an opening at one of the corners of the rectangle that, apparently, may be used to slip through the loops of shopping bags into the rectangle to carry the bags using the straight handle located apparently along the top of the rectangle.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,938 has been issued for a bag carrier showing a solid length of dowel as a handle with a loop of rope hanging therebelow from the ends of the handle where one end may be temporarily be removed from the handle for looping through the loops of the shopping bags and later reconnected to the handle so that the bags all can be carried by the dowel handle. The rope loop, however, allows the bags to slide along under the handle possibly causing the device to become unbalanced.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,755 has been issued for a portable carrier similar to the '938 patent except that the loop of rope has been replaced by a curved member identified by the numeral 28. Unfortunately, element 28 is not identified in the patent specification and the reader is left to determine its makeup on his/her own. Suffice it to say that the overall shape of the portable carrier is large and is awkward to carry about in a store, or anywhere, when there are no bags to carry on it.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,234 has been issued for a carrying device for shopping bags comprising a pair of loop handles held in spaced-apart arrangement by an elongated belt attached at its end to both handles. In operation, one handle and the belt is slipped through the loops of shopping bags and the handles joined together in one hand to carry the bags. Whether this device makes carrying multiple bags easier is open to question: however, it is clear that the device, when not used for carrying bags, is unwieldy and a bother to carry around in a store.

[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,019 has been issued for a short length of dowel having an elongated slot cut partially therethrough wherein the loops of bags are inserted lengthwise in the slot and the handle grasped by a person's hand for carrying the bags. While the device is small enough to fit neatly in one's pocket when not in use, it does not have provision for insuring that the slot will not rotate about one's hand and windup in a downwardly facing direction whereupon all the handles of the various shopping bags would fall out of the slot and cut into one's hand just as if no dowel were there in the first place.

[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,401 has been issued for about the same reason as the '019 patent and the round dowel has been replaced with a dowel with a square cross-section. Because of the sharp corners of the dowel, the patent recommends that it be used to pull a rope looped across both sides of a two-wheeled wagon. The device has no means to insure that any of a plurality of shopping bags, carried by the slotted handle, would not merge toward the center of the handle during use.

[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,166 has been issued for a carrying handle for articles such as shopping bags. It comprises a full loop of rigid material having a handle formed along the top of the loop and a hook depending from below the bottom of the loop that has an opening through which the loops of shopping bags may be inserted. The lack of an enclosure for the hook appears to allow the bags to fall out of contact with the hook should the carrying handle be swung through a short arc during use or when the number of shopping bags reaches the point where the hook becomes filled with bag loops.

[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,634 has been issued for an elongated device with an upper handle having a plurality of bag-carrying hangers depending from a long, horizontal member located below the handle. Whatever the ability of the device to hold a plurality of bags for carrying by one's hand, it is clear that the device is very large, cumbersome and awkward to carry about during a shopping spree.

[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,432 has been issued for a pair of half-loop handles each set at the end of a belt that may be passed through the loops of shopping bags and the half-loop handles gathered together for carrying the bags in the belt. The device does not appear to be foldable into a small enough item to avoid being large, awkward and difficult to carry about before obtaining at least one shopping bag—that usually occurs at the end of the shopping trips at the checkout counter.

[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,803 has been issued for a carrier for flexible plastic bags that comprises an elongated member having upwardly facing hooks at the terminal ends thereof and forming at least a pair of spaced-apart handles. While the device clearly appears capable of holding a plurality of bags, for convenient carrying, its empty length appears to make it dangerous to carry about the store while shopping.

[0016] Finally, U.K. Patent 113,180 has been issued for a device for carrying a plurality of shopping bags and comprises a wire frame formed into a plurality of small, upwardly-facing hooks spaced along a wide frame member with a handle positioned over the top of the frame member. The device appears spring-loaded by virtue of a wire coil at one end of the frame member and a hook-and-latch at the other end of the member. While it may be rigged to carry a plurality of evenly spaced shopping bags, it could prove to be dangerous to a person should the hook-and-latch become undone when the device is empty. Additionally, the sheer length of the device makes it an unlikely candidate to fit conveniently in one's pocket or purse when not in use.

[0017] Accordingly, the prior art continues to need a shopping bag-carrying device that has a fool-proof or accident-proof loading device and that is small enough to be conveniently carried in one's pocket when empty while shopping.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The instant invention is a compact device for carrying a plurality of shopping bags in a centralized and safe manner where the shopping bags are of the type having a pair of loop handles extending upward from the bag such as are found in most plastic and paper shopping bags. The invention includes a handle to be carried in one's hand from which a rigid, elongated loop extends centrally below that includes a first loop section and a second loop section, the loop sections lying in spaced-apart arrangement and joined together by a pair of short, straight-loop segments. A portion of one of the straight-loop segments is adapted to pivot inside the elongated loop through which the handles of shopping bags may be easily inserted or threaded to thereafter reside inside the second loop section when the handle is carried in one's hand with the shopping bags hanging therebelow from the second loop section, generally between the person's middle finger and ring finger. A spring is associated with the pivotable straight-loop segment urging it back into alignment in the loop to insure the handles of the shopping bags remain inside the loop while the bags are being carried by the handle.

[0019] One object of the invention is a device that is small and easily carried out-of-sight when not being used. Another object is a device that is easy to load with the loop handles of the shopping bags to carry the bags centrally in the handle with no chance of the bags shifting from one end of the handle to the other and allows the bags to be carried positively thus not permitting them to fall out of the device before the user desires to remove them. Still another object of the invention is a device having a soft handle that does not cause discomfort to the person using it, or disfiguration to the skin of the hand carrying the device.

[0020] These and other objects of the invention will become more clear when one reads the following specification, taken together with the drawings that are attached hereto. The scope of protection sought by the inventors may be gleaned from a fair reading of the Claims that conclude this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the pin member that goes to make up this invention;

[0022]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tube member into which the pin member is inserted;

[0023]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fully assembled device showing shopping bags being carried with the device;

[0024]FIG. 4 is a partial side view of the rigid loop carried on the handle assembly and showing the narrow portion at the top thereof that relieves pressure between the fingers of the hand carrying the device; and,

[0025]FIG. 5 is a side view of the rigid loop showing a portion thereof open to receive the handles of the bags to be carried.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0026] Turning now to the drawings, wherein elements are identified by numbers and like elements are identified by like numbers throughout the five figures, FIGS. 1-3 show the basic elements of the device 1 of this invention to include a rigid, straight pin member 3 comprising a pin body 5 terminated by spaced-apart first and second ends 7 and 9 respectfully. Pin member 3 is the load-carrying element of the invention and thus should be strong and resist cracking or bending under load. Aluminum serves this purpose because of its light-weight combined with its high strength.

[0027] A rigid, straight tube member 13 of terminal length is provided for and located about pin member 3. Tube member 13 is preferably made slightly longer than pin member 3 and has a first aperture 15 formed in the tube wall substantially midway between is first and second tube ends 17 and 19 respectively. Tube member 13 is preferably made of rigid plastic pipe because of its low cost and easy cutting and forming of first aperture 15 therein.

[0028] An outer layer 21 of pliable material, such as a sponge rubber sleeve, is provided to cover tube member 13 and preferably extends slightly longer than member 13 so that its spaced-apart sleeve ends, 25 and 27, extend beyond tube ends 17 and 19. A second aperture 29, preferably in the form of a slit, is formed in outer layer or sleeve 21 and is aligned with first aperture 15. A pair of plugs 31 a and 31 b, are provided and inserted in sleeve ends 25 and 27 to form a strong, straight handle 33 having a pliable, easy-to-carry outer surface, and be short enough to fit inside one's pocket or purse when not in use as shown in FIG. 2.

[0029] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a rigid, planar, elongated loop 37, preferably made of aluminum or some other strong, non-pliable material, is provided that includes a first loop section 39 and a second loop section 41, spaced-apart therefrom, wherein loop sections 39 and 41 are joined together in elongated loop 37 by a pair of straight loop segments 43 a and 43 b. First loop section 39 may be made smaller than second loop section 41 as shown in FIG. 5.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3, a portion 45 of straight-loop segment 43 a is adapted to pivot, at a hinge 49, inside elongated loop 37 to provide a space 51 through which the handles 53 of shopping bags 55 may be threaded or passed to thereafter reside inside second loop section 41 when handle 33 is carried in one's hand with the shopping bags hanging therebelow from second loop section 41. A bias means 57, such as a torque spring 61, is provided about a hinge pin 63, located in hinge 49, to urge pivotable straight loop portion 45 back into alignment in rigid, elongated loop 37 to thereafter insure that shopping bag handles 53 remain inside second loop section 41 while the bags are being carried.

[0031] A clasp 65 is provided in straight loop segment 43 a, opposite hinge 49, and comprises a first slanted clasp member 67 and a matching slanted clasp member 69 that, upon closure of straight loop segment 43 a and elongated loop 37 prevents escape of bag handles 53. As shown in FIG. 4, the upper part of first loop section 39 is flattened at 73 so that the carrier's fingers, shown in dotted outline at 75, are not forcibly spread apart when one grasps invention 1 in one hand. This configuration relieves stress on the adjacent fingers.

[0032] In assembling the invention, outer-layer, sleeve 21 is slipped over tube member 13 and second aperture 29 aligned with first aperture 15. In doing so, sleeve ends 25 and 27 extend slightly beyond tube ends 17 and 19. First loop section 39, of rigid, elongated loop 37, is then inserted in through second aperture 29 and aligned first aperture 15. Pin member 3 is then inserted through either first tube end 17 or second tube end 19, within first loop section 39 and otherwise centered in tube member 13. Plugs 31 a and 31 b are then inserted in sleeve ends 25 and 27 to seal the ends of handle 33. In this configuration, second loop section 41 and pivotable portion 45 depend below handle 33 for use in attaching or stringing shopping bag handles 53 thereon.

[0033] While the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications to the described embodiment of the invention without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that all combinations of elements and steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same result are within the scope of this invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. Compact device for carrying a plurality of shopping bags, said bags of the type having at least one loop handle, comprising: a) a rigid handle terminated by spaced-apart first and second ends and including an outer layer of pliable material extending from said first end to said second end; b) a rigid, elongated loop, including a first, loop section integral with a second, loop section, said loop sections formed in spaced-apart arrangement wherein said first loop section is fastened about said rigid handle and hidden inside of said outer pliable layer thereof, between said first and second handle ends, said second loop section depending below said outer layer of pliable material; c) a portion of said elongated loop, between said first loop section and said second loop section adapted to pivot out of said elongated loop to provide a space through which the handles of shopping bags may be threaded to thereafter reside inside said second, loop section when said rigid handle is carried in one's hand with said second loop section passing between adjacent fingers of the carrier's hand and the shopping bags hanging therebelow; and, d) bias means associated with said pivotable portion of said loop urging said pivotable loop portion back into alignment in said elongated loop to insure the handles of the shopping bags remain inside said second loop section while the bags are being carried in said device.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said handle comprises a pin member housed inside an overlying tube member that is encased in said outer layer of pliable material.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein said outer layer of pliable material is rubbery sponge.
 4. The device of claim 1 wherein said spaced-apart first and second ends of said rigid handle are sealed.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein said rigid, elongated loop is metal.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein said rigid, elongated loop is planar.
 7. The device of claim 1 wherein said first loop section is smaller and thinner than said second loop section.
 8. The device of claim 1 wherein second loop section depends below said handle.
 9. The device of claim 1 wherein said portion of said straight loop segment is adapted to pivot inside said elongated loop.
 10. The device of claim 1 wherein said portion of said elongated loop, between said first loop section and said second loop section adapted to pivot out of said elongated loop includes a pinned hinge and said bias means is a torque spring associated with said hinge.
 11. The device of claim 10 wherein said end of said pivotal portion opposite said hinge and said end of said loop form interconnecting slanted surfaces.
 12. Compact device for carrying a plurality of shopping bags, the bags of the type having a pair of loop handles, comprising: a) a rigid, straight pin member terminated by spaced-apart first and second ends; b) a rigid, straight tube member of terminal length located about said pin member and having a first aperture formed therein substantially midway therealong; c) an outer sleeve of pliable material covering said tube member and having a second aperture formed therein, aligned with said first aperture, wherein said straight pin member, said straight tube member and said outer layer of pliable material form a handle to be carried in one's hand; d) a rigid, planar, elongated loop including a first loop section and a second loop section, said loop sections held in spaced-apart arrangement by a pair of straight loop segments; e) wherein said first loop section is fastened about said straight pin member, through said aligned first and second apertures, and said loop section depends slightly below said outer layer of pliable material; d) a portion of one of said straight loop segments adapted to pivot inside said elongated loop to provide a space through which the handles of shopping bags may be threaded or passed to thereafter reside inside said second loop section when said handle is carried in one's hand with the shopping bags hanging therebelow from said second loop section; and, e) bias means associated with said pivotable portion of said elongated loop urging said pivotable straight loop segment back into alignment in said rigid elongated loop to insure the handles of the shopping bags remain inside said second loop section while the bags are being carried by said device.
 13. The device of claim 12 wherein said pin member is metal.
 14. The device of claim 12 wherein said handle is elongated, rigid and straight.
 15. The device of claim 12 wherein said outer layer of pliable material is rubbery sponge.
 16. The device of claim 12 wherein said rigid, elongated loop is metal.
 17. The device of claim 12 wherein said first loop section is smaller in diameter than said second loop section and contain a portion thereof that is narrow.
 18. The device of claim 17 wherein said larger, second loop section depends slightly below said handle.
 19. The device of claim 17 wherein a portion of said elongated loop, between said first, smaller loop and said second, larger loop is adapted to pivot inside said larger loop and further including a pair of end plugs assembled in the ends of said layer of pliable material.
 20. The device of claim 17 wherein said pivotable portion includes a pinned hinge and said bias means includes a torque spring associated with said hinge and further includes a clasp having interconnecting surfaces. 